Level 1 sweep and inspection to the NFPA 211 annual standard - flue, crown, cap, and flashing checked and photographed
Chimney sweep logs do not sweep chimneys. They loosen some creosote - which then falls where a brush and vacuum still have to collect it.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
AfterChimney Cleaning Before & After in Annapolis, MD
We could tell you we’ve cleaned more than 38,000 chimneys since 2009. But a photo of what we pulled out of a flue in Edgewater says it faster. Below are recent jobs around Annapolis, Arnold, and Severna Park. Each one shows what the chimney looked like when we arrived, what we found inside, and what it looked like when we left. The photo record is part of every job we do, not an add-on. That’s Clause 4 of the Haven Standard, and it’s been our practice since day one.
Recent Transformations
Class III Creosote Removal in a Cape St. Claire Wood-Burning Fireplace
This homeowner burned soft pine for two winters, which builds the kind of shiny, tar-like creosote we call Class III. That’s the third of three creosote classifications, and it’s the one that feeds chimney fires. We ran rotary rods through the full length of the flue to break the glaze loose, then removed roughly two gallons of material from the smoke shelf and damper area. The after photo shows the liner back to clean clay, and the customer left with a copy of every image plus a written condition report. If the stove had been used one more season without this, the liner would have been a liability. No scare tactics, just what the camera showed.
Neglected Fireplace in Downtown Annapolis: Four Years of Debris in One Sweep
The owner of this row house near State Circle hadn’t lit the fireplace in four years. A chimney that sits unused isn’t in better shape for the rest, it just collects things. In this case, a squirrel had started a nest at the top of the flue, and the creosote from years before had hardened below it. We removed the nest by hand, swept the flue with a poly brush sized to the clay liner, and cleaned a full bucket of material out of the smoke chamber. One dry observation from Corrine: a chimney ignored for four years rarely rewards the person who ignores it. This one needed a new cap, too, which we installed the same day under a written price agreed before we started.
Glazed Creosote and a Damaged Crown in Arnold
This home off Ritchie Highway had two problems that tend to show up together: a crown with freeze-thaw cracking from Chesapeake Bay winters, and enough creosote in the flue to obscure the liner. The crown was letting water run down the outside of the flue, and the creosote inside was doing the job of fuel. We swept the flue first, then rebuilt the crown with a proper slope so water drains away instead of pooling. The homeowner got the full set: written scope before work, photos during, a written warranty after. Water and creosote together will take a chimney apart faster than either one alone in this climate.
Smoke Chamber Cleanout in a Severna Park Fireplace That Refused to Draw
A Severna Park homeowner called because every fire sent a plume of smoke into the living room. The flue itself was only moderately dirty. The real problem was the smoke chamber, the angled section just above the throat damper that narrows toward the flue. It was packed with a heavy soot-and-creosote mix on three sides, which is common in homes where the fireplace is used frequently and swept infrequently. We cleaned the chamber with specialized rods and removed about a five-gallon pail of material. The after photos show the difference: the fireplace drafts properly now, and the smoke stays where it belongs.
Full Sweep and Liner Camera Inspection Before a Home Sale in Hillsmere
This job came from a real estate agent in Hillsmere who needed a chimney signed off before closing. The sellers had used the fireplace occasionally for eleven years and never had it swept. The sweep itself was straightforward: standard Level 1 cleaning, about ninety minutes. The more important part was the camera scan afterward. We ran the full length of the flue and found no cracks, no separation, and no spalling, which is when the clay liner’s surface starts flaking or crumbling. The buyer closed with a documented photo record and a written condition report in hand. That’s the kind of documentation that makes a home inspector’s job easier and a buyer’s decision simpler.
Animal Entry and Cap Replacement in a Broadneck Peninsula Fireplace
The chimney on this Broadneck Peninsula home had lost its cap somewhere in a winter storm. By the time we arrived, a family of starlings had moved into the flue. We removed the nesting material by hand, swept the flue, and installed a new stainless steel cap from Olympia Chimney, one of the brands we source through the Haven buying network. The customer asked what would have happened if they’d lit a fire first. Short answer: smoke backs up, carbon monoxide risk increases, and if the nesting material ignites, it’s a chimney fire in a flue that isn’t prepared for it. Don’t test it. If your cap is gone, call us at (443) 274-4231. The written price is ready before work starts.
Want Results Like These?
Every chimney photo above started with a phone call to (443) 274-4231. You’ll get a written price before we touch the chimney, a background-checked and uniformed technician at the door, and a documented photo record before we leave. If it’s not done right, the 365-Day Done Right Promise applies. Corrine Halstead and the Level Two Chimney Annapolis team have been doing this in Anne Arundel County since 2009. Call us today. You’ll know the price before we start, and you’ll see the proof when we’re done. Phone: (443) 274-4231.
Written by Corrine Halstead, Owner at Level Two Chimney Annapolis, serving Annapolis and Anne Arundel County since 2009.